Adapter unit for loose-leaf binders



1942! G. s EMERY 2,304,401

' ADAPTER UNIT FOR LOOSE LEAF BINDERS Filed Jan. 30,. 1942 Ga/ye 155 Ina/ya Patented Dec. 8, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ADAPTER UlgiiggfilLOOSE-LEAF v George Emery, Tulsa, Okla. Application January 30, 1942, Serial No. 428,939

3 Claims.

This invention relates" to loose leaf binders and has for its object to provide means for converting binders oi the single post type into binders of the double-post or inverted-U type.

The present invention represents an improvement upon the invention disclosed in my Patent No. 2,093,041, granted September 14, 1937. In my former patent I described and claimed an adapter comprising a sheet-metal casing so constructed and arranged to be slipped or sprung over an end of the bottom cover of a conventional loose leaf binder of the single post type and designed to cooperate with the structure thereof so as to allow. its reconstruction into a binder of the double-post type. While such form of adapter serves satisfactorily in connection with most styles of single-post binders, it is subject to the disadvantage that an adapter suitable for one or two different sizes of binder is not capable of use with other sizes of binders because of the variation in the spacing between the pair of binding posts provided on such single-post.

inFig. 2.

binders.

The present invention has for one of its important objects to overcome the above objection 'by providing individual adapter units. each constructed and arranged to be slipped over an end of the bottom cover or a single-post binder so as to cooperate originally occupied by one of the binding posts and permit assembly therewith of a binding post of the inverted-U type. By virtue of this construction a wide field of application of my device with different styles and types vided.

Another object of my invention is to provide an adapter unit of the above character that is capable of being readily built up to different thicknesses so as to correspond to the thickness of the cover with which the units are to be associated.

Still another object of my invention is to provide an adapter unit which is simple in construetion and capable of being economically manufactured.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of my invention, reference being had to the annexed drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a loose-leaf binder cover showing one of the adapter units associated therewith;

Figure 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view through the adapter unit of Fig.1;

Figure 3 is a side view of a modified form oi with the opening in the cover of binders is prothe adapter unit binder cover; and e a Figure 4 is a side vview of still cation 01'. the adapter unit.

5 Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, the adapter unit I comprises a pair of flat. elongated associated with an end of a another modifinected to the lower plate id, as best The shims 4a are substantially shorter in length than the plates Zfand 2a and terminate even with said plates at one end. The plates and spacer block are provided with registering openings togetherproviding a hole 6 through which passes the lower end of oneoi the posts I of a double-post filing unit 8. of this post projects beyond the .and is threaded to receive a nut the post to the adapter unit.

The upper and lower plates 2 and 2a are provided with openings adapted to register with the hole 3 originally provided in the cover B and a companion post la of the double-postfiling' unit passes through these registering openings and hole and is secured in assembly with the cover by means of a nut l0 threadedly associated with the projecting lower end of this post.

The posts 'I and la prise individual sections ll threadedly connected 9 for securing The plates and illustrated The lower end lower plate 2a 2c for the spacer block 4'. composed of a solid piece of wood or metal per- In order to avoid play between the adapter units corresponds in all respects to the unit of Figs. 1

and 2 except that the companion upper and lower plates 2 and 2a are provided with inturned ends together forming an intermediate section 2c. The section 2c serves as a shield for the outer end of the spacer block 4,- thus contributing a neater and more finished appearance to the adapter unit.

1 Figure 4 shows another form that my adapter unit may take. In this modification, the adapter unit, like the adapter unit of Fig. 3, has its companion upper and lower plates 2 and 2a formed with intiu'ned ends to define a shielding section The spacer block is manently secured to one or both of these plates so that the top plate, bottom plate and spacer block may be sold as a unit and thus arranged to be quickly assembled with the cover. If desired, these parts may be cast as a unitary piece.

It is within the scope of my invention to. employ any suitable form of bridging member iia. Forexample, it may .be spring attached for raising or lowering to open and close-the connection between the posts; it may be made loose so as to lift out; or it may be pivotally connected to its supporting post. Alternatively it may be provided with magnetized ends for magnetic association with the posts, the essential condition being that this bridging member may be opened and closed with facility, without becoming loose or accidentally separated, and allow papers to be added to or removed from the binder quickly and easily.

In some types of single post hinders the holes 3, do not extend entirely through the cover but are internally screw-threaded to provide sockets for receiving the threaded ends of the binding posts. When such. is the case the projecting threaded lower end the post la of my filing unit may be made suitably short so as to screw into this socket and be retained thereby. For the reason that the upper plate 2 is rigidly fastened to the cover by the screws i2, it is structurally immaterial whether or not the end of post Ia extends completely through the cover. The threaded lower ends of posts i also may vary in length to correspond to the length of the threaded lower ends of the companion posts la; and in the event they are made shorter than the thickness of the spacer block, they may screw into the hole 6, which latter may be internally screwthreaded to receive them.

It will be apparent that the adapter unit is capable of being embodied in forms other than those described above without departing from the spirit of my invention as defined in the following claims.

aeoasoi I claim:

1. An adapter unit designed to convert binders of the single post type into binders of the double-post type, comprising an elongated upper plate and an elongated lower plate adapted to overlie the upper and lower surfaces of a binder cover and extend beyond the end of the cover,

' said plates being of substantially less width than the cover with which it is designed to be assembled and each being provided with an opening adapted to register with a post hole originally provided in the cover, a spacer block intermediate said plates and maintaining said plates in substantially parallel spaced relatiom said spacer block being materially shorter in length than the plates and located between those portions of the plates adapted to extend beyond the end of the cover, and a hole through said plates and spacer block cooperatively located with respect to said openings, whereby a pair of posts of a double-post filing unit may be mounted in said hole and openings for securing the adapter unit to said cover.

2. An adapter unit designed to convert bindprovided in the cover, a spacer block intermedi- I ate said plates and maintaining said plates in substantially parallel spaced relation, said spacer block being materially shorter in length than the plates and located between those portions of the plates adapted to extend beyond the end of the cover, and a hole through said plates and spacer block cooperatively located with respect to said openings, and a pair of posts of a double-post filing unit extending through said hole and openings.

3. An adapted unit designed to convert binders of the single post type into binders of the double-post type, comprising an elongated upper plate and an elongated lower plate adapted to overlie the upper and lower surfaces of a binder cover and extend beyond the end of the cover, said plates being of substantially less width than the cover with which it is designed to be assembled and each being provided with an opening adapted to register with a post hole originally provided in the cover, a spacer block intermediate said plates and maintaining said plates in substantially parallel spaced relation, said spacer block being materially shorter in length than the plates and located between those portions of the plates adapted to extend beyond the end of the cover, and a holethrough said plates and spacer block cooperatively located with respect to said omnings, and a pair of posts of a double-post filing unit extending through said hole and openings, said spacer block comprising a plurality of superposed shims adapted to be selectivelyassembled to vary the'thickness oi the spacer block;

GEORGE S. EMERY. 

